Disclaimer I do not own Harry Potter and everything recognisable belongs to J K Rowling. Also this story is inspired by 'A Shattered Prophecy' by Project Dark Overlord.
Chapter Twenty One
Sirius knocked on the door, mentally cursing the magical lockdown that was stopping him from using the floo to travel. Although the alteration that Dumbledore had added recently meant that he and other Order members could now floo into the headquarters, no one could floo out. He grumbled in annoyance. He wasn't used to knocking and waiting for permission to enter, not to this house in particular. He heard footsteps approaching, the metallic clicking as the door was unlocked and the red wooden door was pulled open. Sirius grinned at the sight of the dark haired boy answering the door.
"Hey pup!"
Damien's hazel eyes narrowed at him. Without a reply he turned and took two stairs at a time and disappeared upstairs. Sirius sighed, walking into the house and closing the door behind him. He walked to the kitchen and found both James and Lily, busy preparing dinner.
"Hey," he greeted both. "I see Damy's still in a mood."
James let out a deep sigh.
"He's got his mind fixed on only one thing; going to see Harry." said James.
"He asks us everyday to take him to the headquarters, so he can meet his brother." Lily added.
"I think maybe you should let him." Sirius said. "It's been a week since he found out about Harry. It must be driving him mad to know about his brother but not be allowed to meet him." Sirius partly didn't blame Damien for holding a grudge.
"We can't let him!" Lily exclaimed, halting in the process of preparing the salad. "You've seen what Harry has been like this past week! With his failed attempt at escaping, not to mention his soon-to-be forced attendance at Hogwarts, he's downright furious!" Lily picked up her knife again. "He's brimming with anger. It's not the right time to be meeting anyone."
"But does Damien listen?" James asked rhetorically, "no!" he shook his head. "All he understands is that Harry is at the headquarters and he should be allowed to go and see him."
Sirius pulled out a seat and sat down.
"Do you blame him?" he asked.
James glanced over at Sirius before shaking his head.
"Honestly? No, I don't." he answered with a sigh. "I know how excited he is to have an older brother and that's precisely why I don't want him to meet Harry right now." he glanced down at his own hands. "Harry can be hurtful, even with just his words." he said. "I don't want Damien to be rejected by him."
Sirius didn't know what to say. He knew how much Harry's rejection of James and Lily was hurting them. He looked over at Lily but she was focusing on the salad, purposefully not meeting anyone's gaze.
"When are you going to take Damien to see Harry then?" Sirius asked.
"Probably Saturday," James replied.
"Another four days of stony silence to go then?" Sirius joked.
"I think by Saturday, Harry would have calmed down and accepted the fact that he's starting Hogwarts on Monday." James said. "It's the best option."
"Have you prepared yourself?" Sirius asked James. "Back to Hogwarts!" he grinned. "Did you ever think you would be going back?"
"Let alone as a guard for my son." James said bitterly.
Sirius' grin slipped from his face.
"Maybe it's a good thing." he consoled. "This way, you get to be around Harry a lot more and you both can build a relationship."
"Yeah, if he doesn't wandlessly blast me off the top of the Astronomy tower first." James replied.
Lily looked over at him sharply.
"Don't say that!" she snapped at him. "Especially around Harry. He might get ideas."
James shut his eyes and took off his glasses, rubbing at his eyes.
"The way he reacted when Dumbledore told him that I was to be his guard," he sighed, "Harry just lost it. He stormed out of that room."
"I don't think he was angry because you are to be his guard." Sirius said. "It's because he has to have a guard, that's what he's pissed about. Come on, would you like being watched all the time?"
James didn't reply but he let out another heavy hearted sigh. Lily gathered the plates and began setting the table, her appetite diminished by the topic of their discussion.
xxx
It was almost seven when Damien was called down to dinner. He sat at the table, eating quietly, mostly ignoring the three adults seated with him. Damien glanced every so often at Sirius, watching him make small talk with James and Lily. Sirius tried to involve Damien in the conversation as well but Damien refused to be lured into talking to him, so he answered with a one shouldered shrug or a shake of his head. He was just as mad at Sirius for not telling him about his brother as he was at his parents.
As soon as dinner was over, Damien cleared the table, as was his daily chore, before he darted straight upstairs again. Sirius shook his head sadly.
"I can't bear it!" he moaned. "How do you two put up with his silent treatment?" he asked James and Lily.
"He doesn't usually give us the silent treatment." James told him. "He's too talkative for that."
Lily smiled.
"I think Damy's finding it hard too," she remarked. "He kept looking at you two," she pointed at both men, "throughout dinner. He wanted to join in but he's too stubborn to let go of his anger."
"I wonder who he takes after!" Sirius teased with an exaggerated look at the red head.
"I do no such thing!" she denied at once.
Sirius let out his bark of laughter.
"Oh Lils, you are the queen of stubbornness!"
James tuned out the two bickering adults. It was all good natured, they all knew that. James found his thoughts turn to his twelve year old. He hated that Damien was in a mood with him. He didn't even blame him. After all, if he was in his position, he would have been upset at not being allowed to see his brother too. He ran a hand through his hair. Perhaps he and Lily were being a bit overly cautious. Maybe letting Damien meet Harry wasn't such a dangerous idea. Then the memory of Harry wandlessly blasting him into the air came back to him. He remembered the way he had effortlessly hurled heavy furniture at him and Lily. He shook his head at his own thoughts. Perhaps a day or two more to let Harry really calm down was a good idea.
xxx
Damien slipped on his father's invisibility cloak and crept downstairs, taking care to avoid the one creaky step near the bottom. His heart was pounding so loud it was ringing in his ears. He tiptoed into the living room, pausing for a moment when his line of sight caught the three adults sitting at the kitchen table, drinking tea. The door leading from the living room to the kitchen has been left wide open, so he could see them.
Strengthening his resolve, Damien continued forward, towards the fireplace. He was done waiting. If his parents weren't going to take him to see his brother, then he would go himself. Of course, going to the headquarters required the assistance of a Order member and here is where Sirius was going to help him, even if he wasn't aware of it.
Damien had heard his parents discussing the magical lockdown on the headquarters, where he had also learned that the lockdown was in place because of Harry. They had mentioned the strange exception Dumbledore had added the last few days. There was one fireplace that was connected to the floo system but Order members could only floo into the headquarters, not out of it. So that meant that although Harry couldn't use the fireplace to escape, Order members were able to arrive at the headquarters. Since Damien and the twins little prank with Percy's Order portkey, Dumbledore had asked all the Order members to return their portkeys to him for safe keeping and he has set up the floo so they could arrive easily for meetings.
Damien had decided he was going to use this set up to get into the headquarters. He was going to sneak in with Sirius, under the invisibility cloak and floo with him to Grimmauld place. Once he was done meeting his brother, he would sneak downstairs and wait next to the door for an Order member to leave. He would sneak out with an Order member before calling down the Knight Bus and get home without anyone realising what he had done.
Taking a deep breath, Damien stepped into the fireplace, mentally thanking God that it was a big fireplace, two people could easily floo from here. He stood next to one of the walls and pushed himself flat against it so that Sirius wouldn't bump into him when he got in. If Sirius became suspicious it would all be over.
Damien had to wait ten minutes before he heard Sirius saying his goodbyes. He held his breath, his heart thumping frantically in his chest. He gripped at his invisibility cloak, terrified and excited at the same time. 'This is it!' he thought to himself. He pushed himself further into the wall as Sirius stepped into the fireplace. Damien felt himself breaking into a sweat. His legs shook a little from holding himself so taunt. At long last Sirius threw the handful of floo powder into the flames and spoke clearly,
"12 GRIMMAULD PLACE."
Damien felt the familiar spinning and held onto his cloak to keep it from flying off him. He managed to keep himself from falling out of the fireplace as he arrived behind Sirius. Damien stayed inside the fireplace, as the green flames died down. Sirius stepped out of the fireplace, brushing his robes clear from soot, not aware of the visitor he had brought with him. He walked to the door and left the room.
Damien cautiously stepped out of the fireplace, not daring to believe his hastily thought out plan had worked.
'I did it!' he thought to himself. 'I made it into the headquarters without getting caught!' Damien grinned to himself. 'I should probably point this out to dad afterwards,' he thought, "if a twelve year old can get into the headquarters, twice, then the Order better get their security issues sorted!'
Damien waited for a minute or so before heading to the door. His heart was thumping madly as he glanced out into the hallway, checking for any Order members standing guard. But there was not a single person in sight so Damien quickly and quietly made his way upstairs. Damien couldn't stop his legs shaking as he made his way up to the first floor. He prayed Harry was still on the first level. If he was moved then it would take him forever to find him in a place as big as Black manor. He had the map in his pocket but it was useless with the magical lockdown in place.
Damien checked the first five rooms but they were empty. As he approached the sixth room, he felt goosebumps suddenly break out over him. He shivered, a thrill of excitement and curiosity rushed through him. He turned the door knob and like the previous five, it clicked open. Damien poked his head into the room, still under his invisibility cloak, but this room was empty too.
Damien was about to leave and try the next room when he noticed countless books scattered across the bed. A few items were piled on the desk in the far corner. Damien made his way inside the room and he quickly crossed over to the desk. He saw many books piled high on top of the desk and various quills and parchments littered across it. There was a blue pullover thrown over the back of the chair.
As Damien reached over to study the books on the desk, his invisibility cloak slipped off him and dropped to the ground beside his feet and for the moment, Damien left it there. He picked up the book that was on top of the pile. 'Dark Arts and Forbidden Curses'. Damien frowned, it didn't look like a textbook for school. He was certain it wouldn't even be used for Advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts. Damien wondered what such a book was doing in the headquarters. Then he remembered what Sirius had once told him about this house and about his family. They would have had such books in their manor library.
Damien began flipping through the pages, glancing at the instructions on what looked like a really complex and difficult spell. Damien had barely got to the middle of the first sentence when he suddenly felt a hand grab his shoulder and spin him around.
The book fell from his hand and he turned around to come face-to-face with a very angry looking Harry. Damien just looked into the face of his brother in shock. Harry let go of Damien's shoulder and gave him a calculating look. Fierce emerald eyes bore into hazel ones before Harry asked,
"Who the hell are you?"
xxx
Damien stood staring at Harry.
'Merlin, he looks just like dad!' was the first thought to come to him.
Although he had only seen his dad looking as angry as Harry did right now, only a couple of times in his life. Realising that he had yet to answer his question, Damien stuttered quickly,
"Um…Hi Harry…I'm...I'm Damien."
Harry raised his eyebrows.
"That's supposed to mean something to me?" he asked, his tone cold and harsh.
Damien mentally cursed. He should have realised Harry wouldn't know who he was. If his parents never told him about Harry, then why would they have told Harry about him?
Damien wished he had thought this through. All he had thought about was getting into the headquarters but he hadn't spared a thought as to what he was actually going to say to his brother.
"Sorry," Damien started, "I guess there isn't any other way to tell you this, so…um…I'm Damien Potter, your…your brother."
Damien watched as a look of genuine shock appeared in Harry's eyes. It was only for a moment, before the green eyes narrowed in anger.
Harry took a step closer.
"I'm not your brother!" he hissed venomously.
Damien was left stunned. He had been told by his parents repeatedly that Harry didn't consider himself a part of the Potter family but Damien had dismissed it, claiming they were just over reacting. He was saddened to discover they were right.
But Damien didn't let this deter him. He squared his shoulders and met the cold gaze head on.
"Just cause you feel like that, doesn't make it true." he stated.
Harry's eyes narrowed further. He suddenly stepped closer, making Damien back up a step. Harry reached over but his hands went past Damien and picked up the book on the desk behind him.
Damien watched as Harry held the book in his hand before he turned around and walked towards the bed. He watched as Harry threw the book onto the bed and walked into the en suite.
'Oh, that's where he was!' Damien thought to himself. When he first came into the room, Harry had been in the en suite and Damien had thought the room was empty.
Harry walked back out, carrying the small tub of salve Poppy had prescribed him. He placed it next to the vials of potions on the bedside table.
Damien waited but Harry was ignoring him, gathering the various books scattered around his bed.
"Harry, don't you think we should talk?" Damien asked taking a step closer.
Harry turned to look at him over his shoulder.
"No I don't think we should talk, since we have nothing to talk about. So why don't you be a good little boy and sod off!"
Instead of being hurt or insulted, Damien's face broke into a huge grin.
"A 'good little boy', oh man, that's so not me." Damien giggled. "If you think that's what I'm like then you're in for a real surprise." he chuckled.
Harry was now turning a delicate shade of pink as his suppressed anger was beginning to escape.
"Listen kid! I'm not in the best of moods right now, so if you value your life you'd get the hell out of here!" Harry hissed.
Damien just laughed again, making Harry turn around to face him with indignation.
"Merlin Harry, I'm only three years younger than you and you're calling me kid?" Damien chuckled. "You can just call me 'Damy' like everyone else does."
Harry had enough. He walked over to the boy, grabbed him by his arm and dragged him to the door. He roughly pulled the door open, pushed the boy out before slamming the door closed. He had only made it back to his bed when the door opened and Damien walked in again, a huge grin across his face.
Harry growled in a way that would have made Sirius proud.
"Maybe you didn't understand that little gesture so let me explain it clearly to you, GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" Harry shouted. Damien looked at Harry and if possible his smile got even wider. By this point, Harry was convinced there was something seriously wrong with this boy. "Are you mentally impaired in some way or are you just doing this to annoy me?" Harry asked through clenched teeth.
"No, it's just, well that was a very big brotherly thing to say." Damien replied still grinning at Harry. At Harry's confused look Damien explained, "you know the whole 'get out of my room' and 'sod off' thing. It's just the kind of thing a big brother would say."
"You're barking mad!" Harry told him, eyeing him as if he was the strangest being he had ever come across.
Damien just shrugged.
"Maybe, but I'm right you know, about the big brother thing."
Harry had his jaw clenched tight.
"I already told you, I'm not your brother! I have nothing to do with you!" he spat.
His hurtful words didn't deter Damien.
"Alright, how about just being friends for now?" Damien asked, hazel eyes sparkling with amusement.
Harry sneered at the younger boy.
"Are you going to leave or am I going to have to throw you out again?"
Damien cocked his head to one side and looked at Harry, suddenly studying him.
"You know you're not at all what I expected." he said quietly.
Harry raised his eyebrows.
"Really? And what was it you expected?" Harry asked angrily.
"With all the stories I heard about the Dark Prince, I figured you would be more...I don't know," he searched for the right word, "more...aggressive."
Harry blinked in surprise at him.
"More aggressive? You think I've been nice to you so far? What's wrong with you?" Harry asked.
"No, you've not been nice but you've not been completely horrible either." Damien explained. "I mean all you've done is shouted at me and kicked me out of your room. Hardly anything different to what other big brothers do."
Harry realised what the kid had just done. By unintentionally annoying him, Damien had realised that the so called 'Dark Prince' hadn't lashed out or hurt him. Harry had just been inadvertently tested and was caught out.
"I don't hurt kids." Harry said quietly, offering an explanation.
"So I've heard." Damien replied. He remembered what his parents had told him about Harry saving Madame Pomfrey's children.
Before Harry could say anything there was a loud knock on the door and James' voice called out from behind it.
"Harry? Can I come in?"
Damien jumped in fright.
"Oh crap!" he muttered. He ran to the cloak lying on the ground and before Harry's curious gaze, he threw the cloak over himself and seemingly vanished into thin air.
Harry was surprised, he had heard of invisibility cloaks but never saw one before. He turned as the door opened and James walked into the room, smiling warmly at him. Harry gave him a scowl in return and turned his back to him, completely ignoring him.
Underneath the cloak, Damien watched nervously as Harry ignored their dad, turning his back to him. Damien hoped Harry wouldn't give him away. He really didn't want to get shouted at in front of Harry.
"How have you been?" James asked Harry.
Harry didn't turn to look at him, he leaned over his bed, gathering the books, but he bit out a tight lipped,
"Still breathing."
Damien was taken aback at the tone Harry was using. He hadn't used that tone when he was talking to him. Harsh words, yes, but not such a harsh tone.
James didn't react, making Damien realise that this wasn't the first time Harry had spoken to him like this.
"I'm sorry I've not been around as much this last week." James started. "I had to go back ho-"
"Does it look like I care?" Harry interrupted, glancing at him over his shoulder.
Damien's eyes widened and jaw dropped. His dad, while never a strict parent, would never let anyone get away with speaking to him like that. He cringed, not wanting to see his big brother being told off by his dad either.
But James didn't reprimand Harry. He simply looked at him, tired and dejected.
"I had hoped you may have." he tried with a half, hopeful, smile.
Harry just glared at him and looked away, slamming the countless books onto each other and piling them.
"Whoa!" James breathed, having just noticed the vast number of books all over the room. "That's...that's a lot of books."
Harry straightened up, holding some fifteen books piled high in his hands.
"I was bored." he answered simply.
A smile graced James' face as he stared at Harry with clear affection.
"So you do like reading," he said. "Just like Lily."
Harry pulled a face but otherwise ignored him.
"Did Sirius get you the books?" James asked hopefully.
"Poppy." Harry answered as he walked past him.
James nodded.
"She must have got them from the library upstairs." he said, picking up a particular book. "Black manor has a certain type of genre when it comes to books." he said with distaste, staring at the dark arts book.
Harry walked back over to James and plucked the book from his hand.
"I had already read most of them." he said.
Harry walked over to the desk in the corner, exactly where Damien was, hidden under the cloak.
Damien stepped back, pressing himself into the wall as Harry passed by him. Damien had a suspicion, Harry did that on purpose.
Harry plopped the books onto the desk, next to the other pile of books and turned to get the next set.
"I wanted to speak to you," James said. "Well, I was going to wait until Saturday but... I think, it's only fair that you should have a few days to get used to the idea." James rambled on.
"Whatever it is, I'm not interested!" Harry said as he walked back to the bed.
"Harry, please," James stopped Harry. "Could you just...sit, please. It'll just take a minute."
Harry eyed him coldly but he sat down.
James quickly walked over to the desk and pulled the chair, narrowly missing Damien. James brought the chair over to the bed and sat down opposite Harry.
Damien quietly began inching his way towards the door. He had to get downstairs and find a way to escape, before his dad found out he was here.
"We wanted to tell you before but with everything going on recently, your mum and I never got the chance." James started. " I wanted to tell you about Damien. You have a brother, Harry." James paused, waiting for Harry's reaction.
But Harry didn't show any visible reaction. Having already met the said boy only minutes before, the only expression he wore was one of boredom. James cleared his throat.
"Damien's twelve, his birthday's coming up though, 20th of October," James said, wanting to give Harry as much information about his brother as he could. "He's going into his third year at Hogwarts. I am going to bring him here on Saturday so you two can meet before going to Hogwarts."
Harry's gaze darted the corner of the room, where he had last seen the boy, disappear under the cloak. He understood it now, why the boy had darted under the cloak to hide at Potter's voice. He had sneaked in here to meet him against his parent's wishes.
"Damien's a really great kid, you'll love him." James said with a bright smile. "He's really excited to meet you. Actually, he's sort of annoyed at me and Lily for not letting him come to see you already. He's not spoken to us for almost a week now."
Harry snorted.
"I like him already."
James paused, not sure whether he should laugh or not. He settled for smiling, albeit a little awkwardly.
"Yes, well..." he cleared his throat again. "He's in Gryffindor and he's a real prankster, a chip off the old block." James grinned now. "I have so many stories to tell you about my days at Hogwarts, the era of the marauders!" he chuckled.
"I'd rather have my ears cut off." Harry replied seriously.
James' grin faltered and he looked intently at Harry.
"We're going to have a lot of time together at Hogwarts." he said. "It would be a great opportunity to get to know each other, Harry, if you just give it a try."
Harry glared at James.
"I already know you." Harry replied quietly. "I don't need to know anymore about you. And as for your snotty nosed, spoilt, little brat of a son?" he said, "if you know what's good for him, you'd keep him away from me."
Underneath the cloak, Damien wrinkled his nose and glared at Harry. He was anything but spoilt. He watched as his dad's face clouded with anger at Harry's words.
"He's just a kid, Harry," James said quietly. "He doesn't mean any harm. I'll tell him not to bother you too much but let me make one thing crystal clear." James' voice dropped, "I will not tolerate any violence towards Damien, not the slightest." he said. "If you as much as look at Damien with the intent to harm, you will come to regret it."
Harry cocked up an eyebrow and smirked at James.
"Now Potter, was that a threat? I thought you understood how I felt about threats." he said. "And since when did you not tolerate violence?"
"Just because I'm an Auror, it doesn't mean I enjoy or even like violence." James replied.
Before Harry could respond, the door swung open with a crash and a terrified looking Lily ran into the room.
"James! James!"
James was on his feet in seconds.
"Lily? What's wrong?" he asked, coming to her side.
"James! Damien! Damien's not at home! He's missing!" Lily cried, tears in her eyes.
"What?" James erupted.
Under the invisibility cloak, Damien silently cursed. He was so beyond dead.
"I went to his room, just to check if he was still awake and he wasn't there!" Lily cried. "I contacted Molly, thinking maybe he had flooed to visit Ron but Molly said he wasn't there! I contacted Remus but Damy's not there either!"
James was listening with horror. Losing his son under his own roof was his worst nightmare. He began speaking but then stopped, a sudden thought creeping into his mind. He turned to look at Harry, still sitting calmly on his bed, leaning back casually and watching the frantic parents with boredom. James' eyes scanned the room, searching every corner.
Then he heard it, the hurried footsteps somewhere near him, heading for the door. His brow furrowed and suddenly his hand shot out, seemingly grabbing at thin air but his hand closed around something. With a yank he pulled the invisibility cloak off and there stood Damien, looking a little dazed at being caught so suddenly.
"Um…hi guys." Damien said sheepishly.
Harry rolled his eyes and looked away.
"Amateur." he muttered softly as James and Lily started shouting uncontrollably at the poor boy.
xxx
One hour later the shouting had still not stopped and Harry was staring to get a headache. They were all still in Harry's room and Damien had been forced to sit in front of his furious parents. Harry had found it very amusing at the beginning but now he was starting to get annoyed.
"What were you thinking?" demanded Lily. "You scared the life out of me!"
"I never expected you to do something so stupid!" berated James. "All of the Weasleys and Remus are out looking for you!"
"I'm sorry." Damien said in a small voice.
"Oh, you're going to be sorry!" James said. "Just wait! You're going to be so sorry!"
Very suddenly, Harry was there, standing between James and the seated Damien. His sudden appearance made all three Potters blink in surprise and confusion.
"I think that's enough!" Harry spoke with a strange quiet anger that sent chills up James' spine.
Lily intervened.
"You don't understand, Harry. Damien shouldn't have left home like that."
Harry turned to look at her, fierce green eyes pinning her to the spot she stood.
"Kids don't leave their homes unless they're forced to." he said.
Lily gaped at him.
"So we forced Damien to sneak out in the middle of the evening!" she said angrily.
"You kind of did." Damien said quietly.
Lily whirled to face him.
"What?"
"Well, if you had just let me see my brother then I wouldn't have been forced to do this." Damien explained. "See? All this is really your fault, not mine."
James and Lily looked outraged. They stared at Damien unbelievingly for a moment before shouting at him again. Damien just sighed and resigned himself to accept whatever punishment was going to be thrown his way.
Harry was also staring at Damien, studying the boy carefully. When Harry had first seen the boy in his room he had thought that the kid had been sent in by someone. After learning that the boy was his biological brother, Harry had figured that the Potters had sent him, since the adults were having no luck in getting through to him. Now Harry learned the kid had done this all by himself because he wanted to meet Harry, well, that just confused him.
"I want you to go downstairs and apologise to Sirius for tricking him into bringing you here!" Lily instructed. "Once we're back home, you will apologise to Remus and all of the Weasley family for making them run around looking for you."
Damien nodded, obediently, getting to his feet.
"Okay mum." he replied.
"And you can forget the first Hogsmeade trip. You won't be going." Lily added.
Damien's face fell.
"Aw, mum!"
"I don't want to hear it!" Lily cut him off.
"If you miss something you love, maybe you'll learn your lesson." James said. But mentally he was already planning the argument he was going to put up against Lily to make her change her mind and let Damien go to Hogsmeade.
Damien's shoulders fell and he miserably made his way to the door.
"And if all that doesn't teach him a lesson you could always throw him down from two floors above!" Harry said. "Nothing like broken bones to teach you a lesson!"
Damien paused, turning around to stare incredulously at him. But Harry was talking to James, his eyes fixed on him with intense fierce hate.
"Harry," James started with a sigh, "I already told you. That was an accident. I would never have done something like that to you intentionally." James explained.
"What! You threw Harry down two floors!" Damien said, turning to his dad. "How could you do that?"
Harry was taken aback by Damien's temper. He didn't think the boy would have the nerve to talk to his father like that. But Damien's anger was nothing compared to the rage of the fiery red head, who came around and stood next to him, glaring at James.
"You never mentioned that, James." she said, "You said that Harry was injured in battle. You didn't say how or by whom."
James looked dreadfully uncomfortable as he struggled to answer her.
"He...he was injured in battle but...but it was an accident on my part." James saw the glare intensify in his wife's emerald green eyes. "Oh, come on Lils, you know I would never hurt someone like that intentionally." James pleaded.
Lily looked at her husband for a moment and then folded her arms across her chest.
"Tell me what happened." She ordered. "All of it!"
James looked from his wife to his two sons.
"Now! You want me to tell you now?"
"Yes, now!"
James looked at Harry and Damien before turning back towards his wife.
"Here isn't really the right time or place." he said.
Lily looked at James for another moment before taking his hand and guiding him to the door. She stopped and turned around to speak to Damien.
"Damy, I expect you downstairs in two minutes."
Damien nodded with a smile.
After his parents had left, Damien turned around to face Harry.
"Thanks for that, Harry." he said with another big smile.
Harry looked at him in confusion again. Harry didn't think he had ever been so confused all his life as he had been in the last hour or so with Damien.
"For what?" Harry asked.
"For standing up for me and for distracting them." Damien smiled.
"You think I said that to distract them?" he asked. "Why would I care?"
Damien faltered, just as Lily's high pitched cry was heard from the room next door.
"WHAT!...FOUR! THERE WERE FOUR OF YOU?...HE COULD HAVE DIED!"
Harry smiled at the thought of the grief that James was going through. Damien turned around and looked curiously at Harry.
Harry at once stopped smiling and glared at Damien.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Get out!"
Damien only smiled back at Harry as he picked up his invisibility cloak and headed towards the door. He stopped and turned to look at Harry.
"I guess I'll be seeing you at Hogwarts," he said, "Thanks again, Harry."
"Listen kid, I didn't stand up for anybody." Harry said. "The only reason I said anything was to annoy the Potters and cause the fight that is happening as we speak, so don't go around with any funny ideas in your head!" Harry snapped at him.
Damien chuckled and winked at Harry.
"Sure Harry, whatever you say."
With that Damien left, leaving an irate Harry behind.
xxx